Tempo Tracker (Possessions)

Four Factors

Belmont offense

Wright State offense

Top Performers

BELM

WRIG

Points:

Bradds (21)

Hopkins (21)

Rebounds:

Chamberlain (12)

Thomasson (7)

Assists:

Chamberlain (3)

Thomasson (7)

Steals:

Bradshaw (3)

Thomasson (2)

The final 24 seconds of this game may be the most un-Belmont like performance I’ve seen in my two years covering the Bruins. Down one, with the ball, head coach Rick Byrd elected not to call timeout. Seven seconds, and a dangerous pass later — he changed his mind.

Out of the timeout, Belmont put the ball where everyone expected, in the hands of Evan Bradds. Wright State had two forwards foul out early in the half, and Belmont had dominated offensively in the paint. Brads turned, right into a player clearly set. An offensive foul — the Bruins 20th turnover of the game, gave the ball back to the Raiders with just over 10 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing possession — Belmont couldn’t get the foul. After seven long seconds, Bradds finally gets contact — but made no attempt to go for the ball. An intentional foul, with :03.7 left gave Wright State a chance to salt the game away.

But Belmont would catch a break: Stephen Davis missed both free-throws –meaning Wright State couldn’t put the game out of reach. After the intentional foul, the Raiders would inbound under their own basket — to a wide open Chrishawn Hopkins, who hits the layup to put WSU up three. Belmont immediately inbounded to Craig Bradshaw — who would commit turnover 21: Another offensive foul that would seal a loss for the Bruins on the road.

In the end, it was a 7-0 run for the Raiders over the last 2:41. Belmont had their chances to score; Taylor Barnette was caught perfectly driving to the basket on a backdoor, but missed a contested layup. Barnette would be called for an offensive foul on the next possession, and turned it over on the next.

Belmont struggled with turnovers early — committing eight in the first 12 minutes of the contest. But during the last 8:28 of the first half, the Bruins didn’t turn the ball over again. Even with the early turnovers, the Bruins jumped out to a 15-7 lead, making their first seven shots from the field. But a cold spell kept the game close, with Belmont up three at the half.

Belmont was also very un-Belmont like in their shooting. The Bruins attacked the rim early and often, shooting just 3-15 from three-point range for the game.

The second half was the very definition of nip and tuck — neither team would lead by more than two buckets. Fouls were called tight — with both teams combining for 58 free-throws.

Wright State got a solid peformance from Chrishawn Hopkins, who finished with 21 points on 8-18 shooting. The Raiders pulled down 15 offensive rebounds, but were edged on the boards 37-35.

Belmont heads back to Nashville, but not to the Curb. They travel to cross-town rival Lipscomb on Monday.